How to choose the best Magento PWA theme for your website?

The rapid advancement of mobile technology means that it is getting more and more important to cater to the needs of mobile phone users. According to a survey, 50% of the traffic on ecommerce stores makes use of mobile devices for e-commerce. Previously, mobile users were not prioritized but today they are perhaps the most important.

As technology advanced, the browsing experience of the users did accordingly. Progressive Web Apps, or PWAs in short, have increased in popularity most importantly due to being extremely engaging with the users and providing a responsive design. These set them apart from a web browser or native applications.

PWAs for Magento stores have exponentially increased in popularity due to their various benefits. They can provide a very smooth operational workflow, provide users with a consistent and engaging experience, and their ease of creation is something that stands out. Surprisingly, these come at a low cost of development.  PWA websites are going to be the future of e-commerce stores. Magento announced the idea of the Magento PWA studio with their very own Magento PWA theme.

These progressive website applications are getting recognition and attention. They have started to appear as hot topics amongst technology circles and groups. The Magento pricing for these PWAs is quite affordable and is easy to develop. But it is still preferred to hire Magento developers from an expert Magento Web development company.

What is PWA?

The web is a platform with incredible features and advantages. It includes millions of devices, their operating systems, their security model that is centered on users, and that no single enterprise has their specifications and implementations imposed upon the web. These reasons make the web a distinctive platform to be used to develop any form of software on.

The website’s ability to link everything is a reason that it can be viewed, searched, and shared by anyone from anywhere. These applications on the web can be accessed by anyone, from anywhere and on any device. Platform-centered applications are known to be very reliable and engaging. They are present on taskbars, home screens, and devices and can work regardless of internet collection. They have their very own standalone experiences.

They have the ability to read and write files to the local system by accessing the hardware. They can interact with the data on the device such as calendar events, and contacts. These applications feel like they are an inherent part of the devices they run upon. Progressive web applications are advancements of these platform-centered applications. The progressive web applications are built and then enhanced by making use of modern application programming interfaces that can enhance the reliability, capability of stores.

They are easier to install and help in reaching anyone, from anywhere, on any device with a single code base. These also make use of application development techniques such as using a web stack (CSS, Javascript, and HTML). They provide very rich functionality and a very smooth user interface. Magento PWA theme is the advancement to their predecessors, the platform-centered applications. After they are installed, a click on the icon on their mobile device screen redirects them to the website.

What are the features of PWA?

There are multiple features of the Magento PWA theme. They provide multiple features and hold great importance for the future of Magento stores and their customers. The PWA is able to extensively build upon the features of the previous Magento applications.

The capability of multiple functionalities.

The internet web itself is highly capable in its own way but PWAs are better as they are able to enhance the capability of the applications. For example, anyone could build their very own video-chat application as a PWA. These chats can make use of locations, push notifications, and the WebRTC.

If these applications are made installable, their capabilities can increase as they directly make use of the resources that are available at their disposal. These capabilities are present in PWAs. Some of these complex capacities are still out of the reach of the web. Upcoming APIs are looking to change this by expanding the capabilities of the web. These PWAs will introduce features such as media control, file system access, full support of the clipboard, and application badging.

Additionally, PWAs will make use of the secure connection of the internet, a user-centered permission model to make sure that going to the application is a proposition that the users agreed to. PWAs make use of modern and upcoming APIs, and website assembly to make sure that primitive website applications are now more capable than what was comprehended.

Increased reliability.

Progressive Web Apps are extremely reliable. They are learnable and usable. These applications can provide optimal performance regardless of a poor network. This makes them extremely dependable. According to a survey, if e-commerce stores don’t load before 3-4 seconds, there is a 65% chance that the page is abandoned and the customer redirects to another store.

The page should load quickly and at the same time, the operations after loading should make sure that the software usability is present. Users should not have to worry about the application underperforming. For example, the user clicked a button, and due to poor performance no feedback is given, now the user will worry if the click was registered or not. PWAs also ensure a smooth animation for scrolling.

These key features increase the overall reliability of the application and can affect the user experience, from how the users perceive your application to how it actually performs on the user’s device. Magento PWA themes are reliable applications as they are usable regardless of the network connection. The pre-emptive mind of the user expects the application to startup smoothly on a weak network connection, or even when the user is offline.

Users expect the most up-to-date content that they interact with, such as their most viewed products to be available and usable even if getting the request to access the servers is troubling. If users are unable to be catered to, they expect to be informed transparently instead of the application crashing or silently failing.

When your Magento store will respond to the user’s interactions instantly, they will be facilitated to close the deal. This leads to an increase in sales of the store. Users want e-commerce stores that perform in the blink of an eye so that they do not have to worry about any other issue.

Easily installable and usable.

The installation of PWAs is extremely effortless. These PWAs can run on devices like a standalone window instead of operating like primitive apps on a web browser. This means that the application can also directly access the resources for optimal performance. These PWAs are launchable from the user’s home screens, shelf, or taskbar.

They can even search for them. These applications also support split-screen within the device. The installation is as easy as clicking a button. Once installed, shortcuts on keyboards are reserved for increasing usability. The progressive web apps of Magento PWA theme keep the user engaged. These applications are also able to register information such as location, user details, and usage history to personalize the interaction with the application.

These multiple features of the PWAs are a reason for their increased popularity. The advantages they provide for the Magento PWA theme users are:

• The PWAs are easily accessible by using the device’s default browser. It is highly compatible with mobile devices and their operating systems.
• The user can but does not necessarily have to install the PWA on their smartphones to access them. They can access the store on browsers and other devices as well.
• PWAs can utilize the power of the search engine optimization tool to boost their search rankings in results for your Magento store which can increase visibility and their brand exposure.
• The PWAs have the ability to send push notifications to keep the users notified.
• The stores have an application-like user experience and user interaction design that is easy to use. Furthermore, these can even function when the user is offline.
• The user never has to update the PWA manually. The process happens manually and is independent of the user.

If your want to have a Magento PWA theme store, it is best to hire the services of an expert Magento Web development company to develop your application. It is better to opt for companies because they are able to provide an affordable Magento pricing plan for development.

What are PWA’s Frameworks for Development?

There are multiple PWA frameworks that can be used for development. This is actually more efficient. According to research, application development and maintenance savings are greater than 33% if the PWA is able to serve all of the mobile device website needs. By making use of features such as light page designs, quick and smooth transitions, lightning-fast page loading speeds, PWAs are able to impact multiple brands positively such as:

• Mobify. It saw a 20% increase in sales and revenues.
• Pinterest rebuilt their website from scratch as a PWA and this increased their engagement with users by over 60 percent.
• Lancome was able to increase their recovery rate of abandoned carts by 8%. They were able to accomplish this by making use of the push notifications of the application.

There are multiple frameworks that can be used to develop a PWA. Businesses generally choose to develop their PWAs from these most popular frameworks:

ReactJS.

This framework was released by Facebook back in 2013. React is perhaps the most popular choice for PWAs amongst developers due to the extensive JavaScript library. The development of PWAs can create a single page and multiple page applications using this framework. The framework ensures that the content changes and loads differently for the different pages. The React PWA solution makes use of JSX to render the functions needed to connect HTML structures.

Pros of ReactJS.

• Developers can deploy the same code for native applications.
• It has a community of expert developers that are great in number as well.
• The rendering process is very quick because this framework makes use of Virtual DOM.
• React-powered PWAs have high flexibility and are extremely scalable with additional packages.
• The PWA can enable the generation of API interactions, server, and static side rendered pages, and effective routing. This is achieved by making use of JavaScript libraries.

Cons of ReactJS.

• Migration from other frameworks such as AngularJS is very difficult due to the presence of JSX.
• The React PWA solution requires knowledge of JSX as well apart from JavaScript.
• The implementation of this solution is tricky as the methodology is less clearly defined.
• If the customer wants higher flexibility, the issues related to functionality will increase in this React PWA solution.

AngularJS.

Angular makes use of the JavaScript ecosystem for the development of reliable and robust PWAs. Angular was built by Google back in 2010. Angular 5 was recently released in 2017 and was the first version that could support the development of PWAs. The progressive web application development framework allows the creation of a PWA by utilizing the JSON configuration. This eliminates the need to develop a website application from scratch. Angular 8 has added two added CLI commands that help in simplifying the installation of the website application onto a mobile device.

Pros of AngularJS.

• The implementation of AngularJS is easy because of the availability of clearly-defined methods.
• It has a vast community of developers like React.
• Unlike the previous versions of Angular, the latest version requires less expertise to work with it.
• The maintenance of the code is ensured by Google. This makes operations of the framework smooth with extensive support.
• The contribution of CLIs has decreased the learning curve of the framework, which subsequently makes the framework learnable.

Cons of AngularJS.

• It requires prior knowledge of Typescript to use the progressive Web application development framework.
• The AngularJS is much more complicated as compared to other Progressive Website Application frameworks, even after the reduction in the learning curve.

VueJS.

Vue is a front-end open-source framework that makes use of JavaScript. It is distributed under the MIT license. It is mostly driven by its vast community and it is very easy to get started with Vue. The development process can be made easy for beginners by making use of features such as routing, simplistic coding for starters, and high-speed rendering.

Pros of VueJS.

• Like ReactJS, additional packages can be used for scaling up the VueJS application.
• Detailed documentation and immense clarity are highly commended in the developer community forums.
• Vue is perfect for building MVPs and small solutions. Vue enables a very quick product delivery.
• It also has the essential capacity to develop complex and dynamic applications.

Cons of VueJS.

• There are few Vue developers in the market currently even though the code is new and easy to learn.
• Since this Progressive Web Application framework is not supported by a big enterprise, the support it offers is tiny as compared to other frameworks.
• The flexibility which is an advantage creates multiple errors in the progressive web application framework when used.

Ionic.

Ionic is an open-source SDK or software development kit. It is based on Apache Cordova and Angular PWAs. It is currently used in the development of over five million hybrid mobile applications as of yet. It was designed back in 2013. What makes Ionic a very ideal PWA development framework is the availability of its components for Android and iOS. These can be used to construct website pages running inside the browser of the device by making use of the WebView features.

Pros of Ionic.

• Ionic is open-source so it means that the usage is free. The application development cost is also low which makes this framework an apt choice for small businesses.
• The framework is easily usable for developers who have familiarity with Angular and other website technologies.
• The debugging tools and the built-in browser instruments make the development process very easy to maintain.
• Ionic has extensive libraries of plugins that help in accessing APIs that require no code and can work directly.

Cons of Ionic.

• There are frequent updates in Ionic that require reworking the existing PWAs so that they are able to reflect the change. Over time this becomes very inconvenient.

Svelte.

Svelte is similar to Vue as this is also a recently developed component-based framework. Even though it is fundamentally written differently, Svelte positions itself as a “reactive framework” in the market. It is distributed under the MIT license like VueJS. In 2019, they released their most recent version which was almost instantly adopted by The New York Times and GoDaddy.

Pros of Svelte.

• Svelte is able to provide a smaller bundle size, faster loading page, and syntactic analysis and execution using a learner code.
• The Svelte starter template includes a PWA package. This covers the boilerplates and essential server workers for the meta-data social sharing.
• The framework enables plain CSS alongside various Progressive Web Application frameworks and is yet versatile and simple.

Cons of Svelte.

• The implementation is tricky because the documentation has not been developed accordingly as of yet.
• It provides no support whatsoever for TypeScript.
• It is a new framework, this means that there is almost no community support as it lacks users.

Polymer.

Polymer is an open-source web app framework that was developed by Google. It comprises of web components, PWA tools, and a range of templates. It makes use of JavaScript, HTML, and JSS to develop an independent framework. Furthermore, Polymer’s components and tools are supported on a range of browsers such as Opera and Chrome. The features of Polymer make them highly adaptable and accessible.

Pros of Polymer.

• Polymer APIs are extremely learnable and usable.
• It enables complete web application stack support, responsive layouts, data routing, and data tiers.
• Polymer also comes with complete documentation that simplifies the implementation process.

Cons of Polymer.

• This framework is not optimized for Search Engine Optimization which partially defeats the true purpose of building a web application.
• Unlike most of the PWAs, it takes more time to load and reload pages.
• At times, the PWA requires debugging software as it has development tools that are embedded in this PWA.

PWABuilder.

PWABuilder is also a framework that is open-source and offers one of the quickest frameworks to develop the components for website applications across multiple platforms and devices. It was founded by Microsoft. PWABuilder provides extensive iOS and android development support as it has a strong community of developers.

Pros of PWABuilder.

• Users can either enhance the web applications with an additional feature or download the generated PWA packages.
• PWABuilder also offers the easiest method to begin the development process. The URL needs to be typed into the input line, then the framework provides an analysis and lists all of the needed components to build a PWA.
• It can convert a website into a PWA with almost little or no development work.

Cons of PWABuilder.

• The automated procedures make the management of the process harder.
• A disadvantage of flexibility can create issues in this framework when used in PWA. It is very difficult to customize website applications using PWABuilder.

In today’s day and age where everything related to e-commerce demands the best solutions, the true value of PWAs is increasing exponentially. When developing your Magento PWA theme store, make sure that the Magento Web development company you hire makes use of these frameworks to ensure the best PWA. Remember to hire Magento developers that understand your business model, expected scalability, complexity and size, and the elements that will be needed to cater to your Magento store clients.

What are the features of Designs of Magento PWA theme?

There are some features of design that are prevalent in Magento PWA theme stores. There are some features that can be expected for a Magento PWA theme. Makes sure that the services hired provide these features in your Magento stores, you can request demonstrations to check the availability of these core features. Generally, a suitable PWA theme has features such as a fast loading speed for the webpages, push notification features, easy installation, high responsiveness, and compatibility with the device.

Compatibility and Responsiveness.

PWAs were established on the principles to provide progress on enhancing the usability of web pages. Based on those, every modern-day PWA provides high responsiveness to all of the user actions for functionalities and the content available on the store. Irrespective of the device used by the user to access the store, Safari or Google Chrome, desktop or a tablet or their mobile devices, a PWA will always be compatible with all of the various devices and cater to all of the customers without any loss of performance.

Application-like experience.

The user experience of native applications in interaction styles and navigation of content is something that is adopted by a PWA. These allow the user an option to download the website application and then add it to their home screens after a single click on the popup notification. This simple process has reduced the hassle of downloading a website application from the app store or the need for sufficient device space like native applications.

Lightning-fast loading speeds.

Magento PWA theme needs lightning-fast loading speed for their web pages. These allow visitors to instantly enter the store. The provision of a fast-loading page leaves no room for abandonment of the store. It also gives the users a convenient and satisfactory experience to focus on their shopping and spend time in the store instead of stressing and waiting about the web pages to respond to their actions.

Automatic updates.

The automatic update feature is a core feature for Magento PWA theme stores. For the storeowners, there is no restriction to get the permission of the developers for the update of the store. But for the customers, it is necessary to get their confirmation via a popup notification. This notifies the customers about the available updates. When they agree, after refreshing the webpage, they will be able to view an updated version of the Magento store which is ready to use.

Push notifications.

Even when the application is not running in the foreground, the push notification features helps the store send out notifications to the customers quickly. This is best suited when customers are targeted about the products that they are interested in, a notification gets their attention, and if the proposition is like they instantly purchase the product off the Magento store. 

Make sure that the company you hire provides these features in your Magento PWA theme store. You can also perform Magento integration services to develop multiple stores on different platforms.

What are the Technical Attributes Of Magento 2 PWA Theme?

Service Worker.

The service worker is a technical attribute of a Magento PWA theme store. The service worker is a JavaScript file that is continuously being executed in the background but separately from the application or the webpage. It responds to the user interactions with the store, and the network requests that are made from the web pages that are being serviced.

The lifetime of this attribute is short because the service worker only runs to process specific events to introduce customized functions. Its work is to support the PWA application which is the offline working mode, push notifications, and background synchronization.

Push notifications. 

These push notifications are a very useful tool as they allow for persistence, a principle of interaction. They are an effective tool for re-engaging with the customers through relevant content and any prompt updates from the stores that the user is interested in. PWAs send these notifications even if the web browser is not running and the application isn’t active.

Offline work mode.

The service worker allows for a memory cache to store the application shell. This means that part of a store can be instantly loaded on repeated visits. It has all the necessary content such as the payment history of the store, shopping carts, messages, and avatars. These are refreshed every time the PWA gets access to the internet to update any changes. These allow for application performance even without an internet connection.

A user will be able to read all of the content that was stored up to the last time that the internet was used while accessing the PWA, in order to receive any new action, they will require the internet. For example, a user can read all of their messages but to send a new one they will require internet.

Background synchronization.

This feature is also serviced by the service worker. This feature delays all of the actions until a stable connection is restored. For example, if a message is sent right before the connection was lost, it will be marked as sent and it will be delivered as the network service is restored. This means that servers can send periodic signals to the application to update its state when a stable connection is restored.

Application shell architecture.

This feature builds and maintains the PWA content as static and dynamic. The use of application shell architecture is useful as the user interaction is made better. This is the only approach for offline modes. This application shell includes all of the core design elements of the Magento store that will help them run on the user’s device without an internet connection.

The app shell is highly suitable for JavaScript applications that include one page and multiple page applications that have a relatively stable navigation workflow and changing content.

Transport Layer Security.

A TLS is a protocol of transfer. The transport layer security makes sure that the data is transferred to authentic users only. It is the most recent standard for data transfer between applications. The TLS preserves the integrity of data. It makes use of HTTPS and an SSL certificate on servers for establishing a secure connection.

Read Also: Shopify SSL Certificate

What are the best pricing plans for Magento PWA Theme?

For the newly formed Magento stores, it is preferable for them to make use of free themes so that they can invest the money elsewhere in the store. Some themes are free and have the necessary features. However, they are unreliable and face a real risk of code failure and a lack of updates to manage changes. Paid PWA themes are the best solutions as Magento store owners can make use of advantages such as automatic updates, compatibility with recent Magento versions, and technical support.

An affordable Magento pricing plan ranges from $500 to $1000. You will need to pay extra for custom features and support after paying the development costs. Professional companies also provide affordable packages to clients for post-project services to help maintain the store.

Why Folio3, the best PWA Theme Provider For Magento 2.

Folio3 is the best Magento PWA theme provider for many reasons for Magento 2. Folio3 can also help integrate the Magento store with other platforms, social media sites, marketplaces, CRMs, ERPs, and databases. You can hire Folio3 Magento Integration Services to get customized or off0the-shelf integration solutions.

• Folio3 has over 50+ Magento certified developers that can develop customized Magento PWA themes for your store as per the requirements of the clients.
• They have over 30+ extensions in the Magento marketplace that are verified by Magento itself.
• They have over 15+ years of experience in the field of e-commerce solutions.
• Their domain experts and business analysts analyze your business model and then lay the foundations of your PWA store to make sure to provide the best user experience.
• They have created over 500+ Magento e-commerce stores for enterprises and SMEs.
• They also provide affordable Magento pricing plans that cover development costs. They also include post-project services to maintain the store while you focus on the business side.

Final Thoughts.

The PWA is a step to advance the world of online shopping. The increased demand and the growing technology field make PWA stores very important for businesses. Multiple PWA frameworks can be used such as ReactJS, AngularJS, Ionic, VueJS, Svelte, Polymer, and PWABuilder. Some of the most important features of PWA themes are a high response rate, compatibility with devices, lightning-fast loading speeds, automatic updates, and providing an application-like interface and experience.

Some technical features such as service workers, transport layer security, application shell architecture are the backbone of Magento PWA theme stores. Make sure that when you hire Magento developers, they include all of these features to make your store standout amongst your competitors.

FAQs

What is the Magento PWA theme?       

The progressive web applications for Magento are themes that make use of modern application programming interfaces that can enhance the reliability, capability of Magento stores. They are easier to install and help in reaching anyone, from anywhere, on any device with a single code base to your Magento store. They make use of application development techniques such as using a web stack (CSS, Javascript, and HTML).

They provide very rich functionality and a very smooth user interface. Magento PWA theme is the advancement to their predecessors, the platform-centered applications. These also make use of application development techniques such as using a web stack (CSS, Javascript, and HTML). They provide very rich functionality and a very smooth user interface. After they are installed, a click on the icon on their mobile device screen redirects them to the website.

How do I use PWA in Magento 2?

Here is a step-by-step guide of how you can use PWA in Magento 2.

1. First, you will have to set up the server for Magento. So you will install Nginx.
2. Install and configure the PHP-fpm.
3. Then you will have to install and configure the server.
4. Get an authentication key for Magento 2 and the Magento Metapackage in order to install Magento 2 by using Composer.
5. Install Yarn, set up the installation path, and then test the installation to make sure it is working.
6. You will now set up a Venia storefront. You will have to clone the PWA-studio repository, then install the project dependencies, get an SSL certificate, and create and update the .env file in PWA.
7. You will then start the server and build artifacts and run the server.
8. You will finally set up the Nginx reverse proxy.

You can now use Magento 2 with PWA. It is preferable to hire Magento developers as the process is difficult and developers can provide solutions in a much shorter time period than one who learns how to make a PWA and does it on their own.

What is Magento PWA Studio?

The Magento PWA studio project is a tool that is used by Magento developers. The developers make use of PWA studio to deploy, develop and maintain a PWA storefront for Magento 2.3 and above version. The tool makes use of modern libraries and other extensive tools to create a framework and system that follow the Magento principle of extensibility.

What are the benefits of Magento PWA?

The use of Magento PWA ensures that store performance is high, the store is responsive to actions, and is compatible with multiple devices. These also support applications to work offline for a better user experience. The Magento PWA makes it easy for developers to build frameworks and provides a good product system for your Magento store. The advantages are:

• An SEO-friendly store.
• Low cost of development.
• Enhance the user experience and store performance.
• Easy to install.
• Allow offline operations.
• Send push notifications for prompt updates.
• Continuous and silent updates of the store.

Is Magento PWA good?       

Yes, Magento PWA is extremely profitable for business. By using PWA in the front-end of the store, the store can provide a responsive, quick, and application-like experience to users. The connections through APIs allow features that help increase the customer conversion and retention rates for Magento store owners. The use of PWA in Magento stores is a big leap for the e-commerce world. It makes the user experience better for customers and store owners. It has all the features needed to improve your Magento mobile store.